Harvard Man

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Harvard Man is a 2001 feature film written and directed by James Toback. It had only a limited distribution (and that not until 2003), and received little critical or popular acclaim, although it achieved some success when it was released on video and DVD.

The film starred Adrian Grenier, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Joey Lauren Adams, Eric Stoltz, and Rebecca Gayheart. Al Franken and his daughter played themselves in cameo appearances.

Edward R. Pressman was one of seven executive producers for the film.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story concerns Harvard student Alan Jensen (played by Grenier), the point guard of the Harvard basketball team. When his parents' house is destroyed by a tornado, Alan is desperate for $100,000 to replace their home. He is approached by his girlfriend Cindy Bandolino (played by Gellar), whose father is an organized crime boss. Cindy convinces Alan to throw the game for the money. She tells Alan that her father is behind the deal, but actually she goes to her father's associate, Teddy Carter (played by Stoltz), and Carter's assistant, Kelly Morgan (played by Gayheart) for funding. What she does not know is that Carter and Morgan are undercover FBI agents.

Alan throws the game, gives his parents the money, and then undergoes a psychedelic experience after he ingests a mega-dose of LSD. There follows a long stretch of the film during which morphing special effects demonstrate Alan's altered state as he is pursued by Carter, while Cindy is collared by Morgan.

Just when it looks like a toss-up as to what will prove his downfall first, the bad trip, the FBI, or the mob, Alan's other girlfriend (who is also his philosophy lecturer), Chesney Cort (played by Adams), saves the day. Not only does she get Alan to a doctor who can bring him down from his monumental high, she reveals that she is in a sexual threesome with Carter and Morgan. Once he gets some photographic evidence for blackmail, Alan is extricated from his problems; this is sometimes seen as a deus ex machina ending.